It's very important that you never depend on money to fulfill your creative vision. If you do that, you're doomed to fail.

Composers are in some ways the last frontier of musician that gets a paycheck for their musical services.

I was in the Chilli Peppers at the time and I asked myself, would I be able to wear a sock on my genitals at the age of forty and they proved me wrong because I guess they're still doing it.

When you've finished the film and everybody's already made back all their money, everybody just leaves you alone and I'm very happy. That's what it has to be like.

I like directors that give their composer a juicy role in their films. Some films have a small, minor role for music, some have a larger role.

I think the music business is becoming more difficult. It's really taken a big hit with piracy, so it's a lot more difficult. I mean, it was kind of an impractical career choice when I did it 25 years ago, but nowadays it's truly reckless.

The way that I make films is that I sit down and I think, "How much money could I get with less consequences?" And that's how I start. I'd rather have less money and total autonomy than more money and start having to answer to things, because then I'm not being true and the money men are not being true.